Council of State orders scrapping of Greek citizenship law

The Council of State on Tuesday deemed unconstitutional a law passed almost three years ago which allows second-generation migrants to apply for Greek citizenship and to stand in local elections.

Greece’s highest administrative court ruled that only Greeks could stand for office. It also decided that the criteria for offering Greek citizenship were not sufficient and that each case should be examined individually to ensure the applicant has a genuine bond with Greece.

Known as the Ragousis law after former Interior Minister Yiannis Ragousis, the citizenship law was ratified by Parliament in early 2010, allowing those who had been born to immigrant parents legally living in Greece for at least five years to be granted Greek citizenship provided they had studied at a Greek school for a minimum of six years.

The Council of State’s decision could mean that some of those who were granted Greek citizenship in the last three years will lose their rights. It is not clear if the ruling will affect the outcome of local elections in 2010.

Greece had stopped granting citizenship under Ragousis criteria law in December, in anticipation of the court ruling being made public. The decision irked coalition partners PASOK and Democratic Left.

Deputy Interior Minister Haralambos Athanassiou said last month that the law would be replaced with legislation that would require migrants to show a “genuine bond” with Greece and prove they had assimilated into Greek culture. (ekathimerini)

5 comments

This is really a setback and a huge disappointment! Immigrants have contributed a great deal to Greece’s economy. They harvest the crops and it is a well known fact that the success of the completion of the 2004 Olympic venues can be attributed to their labor. It is extremely sad that a ciountry that has emigrated all over the world with a population that exceeds the country’s population can behave like this. They are no better than imperilalists who wanted cheap labor and slaves.
Shame on you Greece! Your children have becone the new generation of immigrant as they abandon your shores in record numbers. It would serve you best to consider how you want them received in countries like Nigeria who has seen record numbers of visa applications.

Gee KTG, first Bill Frezza, now Yvette Jarvis. In case anyone doesn’t know, Yvette Jarvis was the first African-American politician in Greece. I’d like to post the link, but KTG doesn’t allow links, so I ask that KTG provide the wikipedia link to Yvette, who has done so much for Greece, Greeks, and immigrants in Greece over the years, and a true lover of Greece.

Yvette’s comments are straight on, and seeing many Greeks living in Dubai and other places, convinces me that the last employable Greek leaving, please “close the Light” (as they say in Greece)….

sad is the fact the migrants become the object of politics. Ragousis law was passed to facilitate PASOK stay in municipality power in 2010 elections. Its scrapping and upcoming modificaton now is under pressure by GD that indirectly dictates to ND what it should be done in the migrants issue. As somebody who have lived abroad I can tell, that Ragousis law granting Greek citizenship to adults was rather ‘sketchy’. Hardly a country (USA, Germany, UK) would grant citizenship of one cannot prove ‘cultural bond’ starting from the national anthem… But children born here should take it by birth. let’s hope the new law won’t be a disaster.